WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS
During the night between July 2 and 3, police intervened at several locations in Belgrade and Novi Sad, where citizens and students had gathered and set up street blockades.
Officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs checked the identities of a total of 1,297 people throughout the night, while 79 individuals were brought to police stations, according to the official statement.
"Of those, 72 people were detained for committing misdemeanors, and seven people on suspicion of having violated provisions of the Criminal Code and committed criminal offenses through their actions."
According to police, all blockades across Serbia and Belgrade were removed, and all roads are now passable.
They stated that four police officers were injured and one official vehicle of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was damaged.
In front of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, the gendarmerie intervened. As seen in videos posted on social media, members of this unit approached the very entrance of the Faculty of Law.
Students of the Faculty, who are part of the blockade, stated that police attempted to enter the building, thus violating university autonomy.
Journalist Vuk Cvijić from the weekly Radar witnessed the police action in front of the faculty. In a statement to N1, as reported by the Beta news agency, he said that students had blocked the street when the police suddenly arrived with vehicles and began attacking students.
“They retreated to the faculty, and then [police] even came up to the building itself, while commanders were shouting, ‘Don’t go in,’” Cvijić recounted.
He witnessed multiple arrests during the incident.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 23 people were arrested.
The police also stated that claims suggesting they entered the building of the Faculty of Law or arrested people inside were false.
“During efforts to restore traffic flow and public order, police took action against individuals placing containers, fences, benches, planters, and other obstacles at intersections. At one point, in their effort to detain these individuals, police were present on the square in front of the Faculty of Law and on its steps, but at no point did they enter the building, respecting the university’s autonomy,” the statement said.
A few hours earlier, clashes occurred between police and citizens at Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that members of the Police Brigade were attacked at the intersection with Ruzveltova Street while attempting to detain a person who had been disturbing public order and placing containers on the road. One officer was injured, and a police vehicle was damaged.
Police also intervened in front of the Vračar police station on Radoslava Grujića Street and nearby streets.
There, citizens and students had gathered during the evening, waiting for several detained individuals to be released — among them minors who had been arrested earlier that evening at blockades in Njegoševa Street and near the Faculty of Law.
After the detained minors were released, the adults who were arrested were taken to the duty judge at the Misdemeanor Court in Ustanička Street. Once they were transported, the gendarmerie pushed back the crowd in front of the station and at one point used force, including batons.
Similar police actions took place in other parts of Belgrade where citizens had gathered and blocked intersections.
The intersection blockades in Novi Sad, which began after 6 p.m. last night, continued throughout the evening.
Citizens again blocked several intersections on Bulevar Oslobođenja — one of the city’s main roads — as well as several other streets. The boulevard had already been blocked for several hours on previous days.
Police removed the blockades at several locations, but citizens returned after officers left.
The student organization Students in Blockade called for civil disobedience after the rally on June 28 in Belgrade.
Most students demanded new elections back in May, after organizing major demonstrations and faculty blockades across the country, calling for criminal accountability of the authorities following the deaths of 16 people in the collapse of the canopy at the main train station in Novi Sad on November 1.
Students in Blockade announced this morning that today’s planned action at 7:30 a.m. has been postponed, adding: “You’ll be hearing from us.”
